By Maggie Edwards 

David Sims’ decision to help his granddaddy farm while taking online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a future in farming full time — and the preservation of more than a century of Weatherly Farms. 

“I didn’t plan on making a career out of this, but now I don’t want to do anything else,” said Sims, the Marion County Young Farmers chairman. “It’s the only job I’ve ever had, and it’s the only one I ever want.” 

The 22-year-old farmer is responsible for continuing maternal grandfather Gary Weatherly’s legacy and the 600-acre Marion County row crop operation. 

“Granddaddy was getting ready to hang it up and stop farming when I was weighing my options for college,” Sims said. “That’s when I felt called to the farm. I get asked why every day. If I hadn’t, the farm was going to die, and all this was going to go to waste. It was too good for that.”

Weatherly said he hesitated to encourage his grandson because he knows the challenges that come with row crop farming. 

“It hasn’t always been roses,” said Weatherly, 87. “It’s hard when you work and still don’t have anything left at the end of the year and wonder if you can pay off in the fall. We’ve been fortunate in the last few years, though.” 

Tough times didn’t scare Sims away. It motivated him to work hard and make his granddaddy proud. 

“You’ve got to want it,” Sims said. “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” 

As Sims begins to write his story growing corn and soybeans, Weatherly reflects on the history of Weatherly Farms, founded in 1898. 

“This farm has seen cattle, hogs, row crops and the lumber industry,” Weatherly said. “It’s gone from mules and horses to tractors driving themselves.” 

Farming wasn’t always the plan for Weatherly, either. He graduated with a degree in agricultural science in the first class of Auburn University, formerly Alabama Polytechnic Institute. 

He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1960, hoping to make a career in the military. Weatherly returned home five years later to care for the farm and his mother after his father passed away in a farm accident. 

That’s when Weatherly got his start in the Marion County Farmers Federation (MCFF). 

“My dad was a MCFF board member before he passed,” Weatherly said. “When I came to take over the farm, the board elected me to fill his position. I’ve been there ever since.” 

Weatherly and his wife married in 1958 and later had three daughters — one being Sims’ mother, Susie, who now handles the farm’s books. Sims’ father, John, is a feed salesman at the local Farmers Cooperative. 

“This is my dream now,” Sims said. “I have had the thoughts my whole life. I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else but here. It’s special working alongside my granddaddy every day and being the reason his family heritage lives on. Not everyone gets to have that.” 

That’s something to be proud of, Weatherly said. 

“I love what I do,” Weatherly said. “When I passed the 86-year-old mark, I decided I couldn’t do as much as I used to could, but David gets it.” 

The row-cropping, grandfather-grandson duo has become inseparable; in addition to farm work, they eat dinner together each day. They’re two peas in a pod, Weatherly said. 

“Farming is in our blood,” Weatherly said. “My family would be proud.”